Love Is An Open Door
by Idinaya
Summary: What would have happened if Regina actually opened the door for Emma? Another take on the SQ door scene. [Angsty start, fluffy ending!]
1. Chapter 1

Another take out of many on the Emma/Regina door scene. Enjoy! (P.D: I'm sorry about the cliché title but I JUST HAD TO)

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"Please let me in?"

Emma felt like she had stood outside Regina's office for hours, when in fact it had only been 20 minutes since she arrived. That woman was a piece of work when she talked, but she never imagined it would be even worse not getting a response from her, when she knew she was sitting right behind that door.

"Go away, Miss Swan. " Regina answered tiredly.

From the quiver in her voice, Emma could tell Regina had been crying. And then she felt even worse that she did before.

"Look, Regina, I'm really, really sorry. I didn't come here to fight, I just want to talk to you. You don't need to lock yourself away like this. I know we're not exactly best friends but I'm worried about you, Henry's worried about you. Hell, even my mom is worried about you. Just let me in so we can talk and sort things out-"

And then, before Emma could finish her sentence, the door working as a barrier between the two women finally opens, slowly, almost as if it didn't want to.

Emma is shown a very different Regina from the one she was used to, with the killer pencil skirts and those eyes that seemed like they could kill you with a single look. This Regina looked fragile, tired… battered. Her eyes were red and puffy, the subtle traces of liquid eyeliner running down her cheeks as evidence that she had been crying, like Emma predicted. She didn't have her 6 inch high heels on, so she looked smaller than usual too. She felt as if she was able to look into the pain in her soul through her teary eyes, and for some reason, that broke Emma's heart. It wasn't right.

"Just say whatever you have to say so you can leave and I can have some peace." Regina muttered without even looking at Emma directly. She wasn't in the mood to insult her, or yell at her, or even use her magic to send her flying out the building. She was tired, and all she wanted was to be alone, since she didn't have anyone to comfort her. Not anymore.

"Regina, I…" Emma took a few seconds to think through what she was going to say, afraid of what Regina might do. After all, she was the reason the other woman was feeling so upset. "I came to apologize. And also to tell you that everyone's worried about you and they just want to make sure that you're-"

"Okay? That's what they want to make sure?" Regina snapped, suddenly lifting her to gaze to catch Emma's, her brown eyes teary and angry "Well, _Emma_, you can tell them that I'm having an awful time so they can be at ease, since seeing me suffer must be some kind of justice to them. And as for your apology, you can save it and go home. Not even your oh-so-powerful-Savior-magic can fix what you've done. Let alone your stupid apologies."

Emma didn't know what to say for a second, and then she remembered the reason she went to see Regina in the first place.

"Our son is worried about you." She said calmly, putting some emphasis in _our_. "And I know for a _fact_ that he doesn't like seeing you suffer."

Regina's gaze and posture softened considerably, and she used the door to lean her weight on it, staring at the floor to escape Emma's curious gaze.

"I can't let him see me like this..." Regina muttered, more to herself than to Emma.

"I know." Emma nodded, understanding. "But you have to know that he's out there too, and he _cares_, probably more than anyone else in this town."

"I know he's out there!" Regina snapped once again, the coldness returning to her chocolate brown eyes as they gazed back at Emma. "He's the reason I haven't taken any drastic measures with my life yet. So yes, I've been thinking of him after all that's happened. Contrary to what you or everyone in this town thinks, I _do_ love him."

"I never doubted you when it came to your love for Henry." Emma said, offended. "If there's one thing I'm sure about you Regina is that you love our son and that you would defend him with your life, just like I would."

They both stood in silence for a while, until Regina finally broke it by clearing her throat.

"I never doubted you on that either." She said quietly. "If you had the nerve to try to take him away from me…"

Emma smiled softly and looked at Regina, but saw she wasn't smiling.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that too…" She admitted, lowering her gaze.

"You know, Emma?" Regina said suddenly, looking at Emma with accusing eyes "you're always sorry about a lot of things. About trying to take away our son, about bringing back my true love's dead wife from the past, about completely ruining my chance at a happy ending over and over again-"

"I'm not going to apologize for saving someone's life!" Emma snapped. "A life that was going to be taken by _you_!"

"But that was part of the past! MY past!" Regina fought back. "It's like you brought her back to remind everyone what a terrible person I was and to make them doubt my intention of changing who I am for everyone's sake!"

"You _know_ that wasn't my intention at all, Regina! Hell I didn't even know she was Robin's wife! I didn't think-"

"_Exactly_. You didn't think." Regina lowered her voice an octave as she spoke. "As always. You make choices and don't think about how they could affect other people."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest and kept quiet, closing her eyes for a second to avoid saying things she would regret later. She felt Regina's calculating eyes observing her.

"I screwed up." Emma said finally. "I know I hurt you, and I feel like an asshole because of it. "

Regina would have added a few things to that sentence but she kept quiet as Emma spoke.

"I don't know what you want me to do to get you to forgive me, but I just want to make things right with you, Regina."

"Well, not everything is as easy as you think. You can't fix everyone's problems with useless monologues about 'true love' and 'hope' and 'happy endings' that I'm sure your dear mother has taught you."

"She didn't teach me anything." Emma replied coldly. "I've experienced it myself, and you've seen it too. There's _always _hope."

"When you've had a life like mine where everything gets taken away from you just as you're about to reach your so-called happy ending, you end up having a hard time believing in hope." Regina said, crossing her arms over her chest, as if she was trying to hold herself together.

"Even if you don't want to admit it, my life hasn't been much different from yours." Emma reflected. "We've both had shitty childhoods and shitty love stories. A lot has been taken away from both of us in different ways. But the possibility of happiness was always there, you just have to have a little bit of hope and fight to find it."

"But haven't I fought enough already?!" Regina found herself replying, louder than she expected. "Every step forward I take is two steps back for me, Emma. It's been like that my whole life and I'm just _tired_ of disappointment after disappointment. I don't think I can do this anymore!"

Regina turned around and walked towards the center of her office as she felt the tears overflowing her eyes, leaving Emma alone at the door. She was so tired of crying, and she didn't want Emma to witness her falling apart once again. Even if she was still there after her poor attempt at hiding her sorrow, she couldn't bear seeing Emma's green eyes feeling sorry for her.

Her outburst was greeted by Emma's silence, and for a second Regina thought she'd left, but she was surprised to hear the blonde's footsteps approaching her. She could feel her standing right behind her.

"If you won't, I will."

Regina turned around to look at Emma with questioning eyes. She was greeted with a sad but happy look. It reminded her of the day she let her go to New York with Henry.

"What does that even me-?"

And before she could finish, Emma didn't waste any more time and did what she thought Regina had been needing for a long time. She wrapped the tiny brunette in her arms, hugging her against her body; not too tight, not too loose.

Regina obviously fought her at first, trying to escape the embrace, telling her to "_let me go!"_ and how she "_dared touch me!"._ But the blonde remained strong, at the same time praying that Regina wouldn't light up a fireball right between them.

In answer of Emma's silent prayers, after just a few seconds of struggle Regina stopped fighting. Silently. Just like that.

She just stood there, her chin resting –unwillingly- on Emma's shoulder, and her arms loose at the sides of her body, never touching the other woman intentionally. Her eyes were watery as she stared at the open door Emma had walked through just a few minutes ago.

Like she said, Regina was tired of fighting. She was tired of struggling against her demons, against the people she cursed and didn't trust her wish for redemption. It was a mental struggle that she wasn't willing to fight anymore. And she didn't care if Emma Swan, _the_ Emma Swan who had ruined her life more than once had her arms around her, in her office, uninvited. She didn't care, so she let herself go.

She let the blonde embrace her, surrounding her with a strange warmth that healed her, and somehow put her mind at ease. For a second she managed to forget everything that was hurting her in that moment.

"You know, Regina, you keep forgetting you are not alone anymore." Emma said quietly against the brunette's ear. "Your whole life you've felt like there was no hope for you, like the only thing you could do to get what you wanted was doing awful things and hurting the people you loved for your own benefit… But that's not who you are anymore. You've fought so hard to be where you are right now as a person, even when everyone discredited you and untrusted you, including myself, and yet you've proven everyone wrong.

You deserve a happy ending as much as everyone in this crazy town, and if at this point in your life you don't feel like fighting anymore, I'll do it. I'll fight for the happy ending you deserve."

And in that moment, Regina felt her eyes drowning in tears all over again. But these tears were different. Those tears pushed her to hug Emma back. She slowly circled the blonde's waist with her own arms, hesitantly resting her hands on her lower back. She sighed in relief and closed her eyes, amazed by the level of comfort Emma could provide her with just a hug.

The blonde mimicked Regina's actions without noticing and closed her eyes too, sighing as well as she took in Regina's sweet perfume.

Emma was afraid to break that peaceful silence she had managed, fearing that it would jinx it and Regina would go back to her sad and distressed state. She managed to do what she had intended; she calmed the brunette down giving her the level of care she thought she needed.

"Why are you doing this?" Regina whispered against Emma's shoulder.

Emma thought about it for a second, and she realized that she wasn't really sure. Why was she trying to comfort the woman that had done so many things to hurt her and the people she loved? Maybe because they were more alike than they wanted to admit. She felt that in some way Regina understood her. As if their hearts had gone through the same kind of pain, and their deeds had cause a similar kind of damage. Often, their actions ended up hurting each other.

"I guess… I've hurt you enough already." She found herself replying. "And I just wanted to do something about it."

"But why?" Regina asked more firmly, pulling away from Emma a little to look at her face. "I've hurt you just as much if not more, why would you want to do something for _me?_"

The fact that Regina couldn't believe that someone would be willing to do something for her without expecting anything in exchange or getting something out of it made Emma sad, but she let out a tiny smile as she contemplated Regina's questioning eyes.

"I'm the Savior." She said simply. "It's a habit, I guess."

"You can't save everyone…" Regina replied in a whisper, her posture stiffing against Emma's body.

"Don't challenge me now, Madame Mayor." Emma smirked, her nose almost touching Regina's as she leaned in closer. "I have a reputation for being perseverant."

Regina lowered her gaze and chuckled quietly, shaking her head.

"Well, I admit that you don't give up easily." The brunette smiled. "I… like that about you. Even if it's a little irritating sometimes."

Emma laughed as she felt her face heating up. Was she blushing at Regina's compliment? She discreetly took a step back and buried her hands in her pockets, like she always did when she was embarrassed.

"Miss Swan, are you blushing?" Regina laughed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Shut up. You were crying two seconds ago." Emma lowered her gaze and smiled, trying to hide her bright red cheeks.

"I'll certainly use this for future reference." Regina smiled even wider.

The two women found themselves laughing in the middle of the room, as if the emotional conversation they had had less than 5 minutes ago never existed.

"Well at least I made you laugh for a bit." Emma grinned at Regina, staring her intently. _'Hell, she's pretty even when she cries, but she's beautiful when she laughs'_

Emma stayed with Regina for a while. They didn't talk much; the two just sat together on Regina's couch, saying a couple of words every now and then. Emma knew Regina wasn't really in the mood for talking, so she just did her the favor of making her some company. God knew she needed it.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Emma asked as she was about to leave. After a little while of quiet talk, the blonde considered Regina was feeling much better than an hour ago, so she thought she could leave her alone.

"You're leav-?" Regina stopped herself mid-sentence. "I mean, yes. Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Regina's unfinished question didn't go unnoticed by Emma, obviously. She smirked slightly as she left her jacket on the couch again.

"You know, I could stay if you wanted me to-"

"Emma. I'll be fine." Regina assured the blonde as she approached her. She grabbed her jacket from the sofa and handed it to her. "Say hi to Henry from me. And tell him that I'll go see him soon. I just need some time to think."

Emma nodded and grabbed the jacket from Regina's hand, reluctantly. She didn't know why but she didn't really want to leave. She wanted to stay with Regina, comfort her, make her feel better. She didn't know if it was the guilt of her being the reason of her troubles, or if there was something else that was pulling her towards the other woman.

"Okay, um. I'll be on my way then. Just call me if you need anything."

Just as Emma turned around to leave, Regina stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulled at it to bring her back.

"Emma… thank you." Regina smiled, looking deep into Emma's eyes.

Emma smiled back at her and put her hand over Regina's, stroking softly with her thumb.

"Not a problem." The blonde said quietly, getting lost in Regina's brown orbs.

Before she could say anything else, Regina took a step forward and ended up with her nose almost touching Emma's. She looked back and forth from Emma's eyes to her lips, her breath caught in her throat. There was no going back now. Slowly, after releasing the air trapped in her throat, she took a deep breath and crashed her lips against Emma's.

Emma was surprised at first, but she quickly responded by grabbing Regina's waist with both hands, bringing her even closer to herself, moaning slightly against the brunette's mouth. Only now she realized, with her own lips closing against Regina's upper one, how much she had been craving that kiss. Her kiss. It's like that invisible force dragging her to the brunette finally reached its purpose of bringing them together in an unexpected way. But somehow it felt right.

The two went at it for a while. Lips crashing over and over again, bodies colliding against each other and cheeks being caressed in a loving way.

They both breathed heavily as the kiss was broken. Regina had both her hands holding Emma's face, as if she was afraid the blonde was going to vanish from her grasp. As for Emma, she was still holding Regina by the hips, their stomachs colliding together as well as their chests, both heaving up and down against each other.

What they didn't notice as they stared deeply into each other's eyes, was the white halo of light surrounding them completely, every time their lips crashed and they breathed each other's name into the other's mouth.

"Regina…" Emma began.

"Shh." Regina stopped her by putting two fingers on Emma's lips. "Don't say a word."

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**A/N:** Might continue if I get some new ideas! It was intended to be a one-shot but anything could happen ;) Reviews are appreciated! :D


	2. Chapter 2

So I finally decided to go on with this story , I hope I can keep the rhythm along the way. Thank you for all the reviews/favourites/alerts on the last chapter, they were very encouraging :D Especially some of the ideas you guys left. Feel free to leave some more just in case I get some writer's block on the way. Really, you'd be helping me a lot! So keep the reviews coming! :D

Since apparently Ruby was whiped away from Earth on the show, I decided to bring her back on this chapter simply because I can. THAT'S RIGHT. SUE ME, A&E.

Enjoy! :D

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"And then this… weird, shiny white light started filling the room, and it looked like it was emanating from us? As if we were a pair of freaking Pokémon evolving or something. I don't know, it was weird as hell."

"But you _liked_ it, right?" Ruby smirked from across the table at Granny's where she and Emma were having coffee while Emma told her about the events from a week ago.

Emma hadn't really seen Regina since that last time at her office. She had spotted her on the street a few times, but apparently the ex-Mayor never saw her. Or maybe she was avoiding her. It wouldn't be surprising for Emma if she was; she knew how closed Regina was about her feelings, and she figured she would be a little embarrassed after that unexpected kiss in a moment of vulnerability.

"For the fiftieth time, yes, Ruby, I enjoyed it very much." The blonde sheriff smiled bashfully.

And damn right, she did. Emma didn't know where all those feelings were coming from. And especially with _that_ person in particular. But all she's wanted to do since it happened was to see Regina again, talk to her again, _kiss _her again. 'And maybe something else' she thought to herself, and thought it out loud for Ruby later.

"Then why the hell haven't you called her? Or texted her? Damn, Emma, it's been a week! She probably thinks you don't wanna talk to her and _that's_ why she's been avoiding you." Ruby scolded her. "You know better than that, Swan."

"Yes, I _know_, Rubes, but why if it's the other way around? Why if she's avoiding because she honestly doesn't want to anything to do with me? What if she regrets what she did, thinking it was a mistake?"

Emma sighed and looked down at her coffee cup. Ruby smiled and put a hand over hers comfortingly.

"The only way you'll find out is by asking her, Ems. Like you said, you two are very similar. Maybe she's having the exact same thoughts as you."

Emma nods quietly, thinking about Ruby said. Regina is a very complicated woman, but God knew she was as well. I mean, when was the last time she'd had a _serious_ relationship? She had even rejected Hook after fooling around with him for a few months. Yeah, the guy was good looking but that's all he was. She didn't feel a thing. In, fact, she hasn't felt anything well, since Regina… But before that, since Neal. And the memory of him still broke her heart a little, so she scared the thought away. Above all, she only hoped Ruby was right about Regina's feelings.

"Well, speaking of the devil… Literally."

Emma frowned at her friend's comment and then she noticed she was staring at something behind her back. The blonde turned around and saw the woman in question sitting at a table outside the diner, alone.

"Dude, it's your chance!" Ruby said, shaking Emma's arm.

Emma just stared at Regina with her mouth agape, silently agreeing with her friend but at the same time unable to move. What was she gonna do now?

"Ems, if you're gonna just stare at her with your mouth open you'll most likely scare her." Her friend shook her out of her thoughts. "Go. _Now."_

"I don't think she wants to talk…"

"Emma!"

"Okay, alright! Gosh, woman. If she throws her coffee at me, it'll be your fault."

Emma stood up slowly, already dreading this conversation. Just when she was approaching the door, Regina looked away from the cell phone in her hand and locked eyes with Emma through the glass. Their gazes lingered for a second, connected with each other. Emma could see a glimpse of vulnerability in Regina's eyes, but it soon disappeared as Regina looked away to start gathering her things and stood to leave.

"Hey, Regina. Regina, _wait!_"

Emma hurried to open the door and ran to Regina, who was already out in the street. The woman was definitely trying to avoid Emma that time, which made the blonde even more unsure of what she was doing.

"Miss Swan." Regina greeted her when Emma stopped her by standing in front of her, knowing she couldn't get away anymore. "Whatever conversation you wish to have with me I'd rather it wasn't out here for everyone to hear."

"Wow. Can't a girl just say hi?" Emma smirked, a little short of breath from the jog she just had.

Regina raised a questioning an eyebrow.

"You just ran like a crazy person just to say hi?"

They stared at each other for a second, and after a beat of awkward silence the two women couldn't help but laugh.

"You haven't called." Emma said finally, the smile lingering on her face slowly fading.

Regina looked down at her shoes timidly, avoiding Emma's gaze.

"I've been busy… Thinking."

"So busy that you couldn't even send me a text?" Emma inquired, suspicious, and when Regina crossed her arms and didn't answer, the blonde added: "Thinking about what?"

"The events that took place at my office the other day, precisely." The former Mayor said, looking away from Emma as she felt the heat reaching her cheeks. "When we…"

"Kissed?"

"Miss Swan!" Regina widened her eyes as she looked around for eavesdroppers. "Could you keep your voice down for once in your life?!"

"Oh, so it's 'Miss Swan' again now, eh?" Emma crossed her arms, offended. "There isn't even anyone around… Well, except that old couple over there, but they don't count."

"Of course they count! Everyone counts!" Regina whispered in exasperation. "You've obviously never lived in a small town."

"Apparently not." The blonde offered her a bashful smile. "But you need to chill out about it Regina, it's not like anyone would care anywa-"

"Are you serious right now?" Regina interrupted her skeptically. "'The Savior and the Evil Queen kissing behind closed doors not being a novelty in this town?!"

"Um, well… Maybe you're right." Emma admitted. "But still! I mean, I wouldn't like _everyone_ to know about it so soon either. So far I've only told Ruby, but-"

"You _what?_"

Regina was spitting fire through her eyes as she asked the question, lowering her voice in an Evil Queen fashion. Emma felt herself becoming smaller for some reason.

"Yeah, I mean, because y'know… She's my best friend! And plus, I know she won't tell a soul. Seriously, she's very trustworthy. In fact, she's the one who convinced me to finally talk to you today."

"Did she now?" Regina replied, uninterested, as she looked through the window to spot Ruby serving coffee to a couple of clients. "Well tell Miss Lucas from my part that she better keep her wolf mouth shut if she doesn't want me to-"

"Regina," Emma stopped her, taking a few steps until their noses were almost touching. "Can you just trust me for once? No one will know. I promise."

Emma took a leap of faith as she moved her hand to touch Regina's. She squeezed comfortingly, and the other woman almost squeezed it back, but at the last second she took it away nervously and dug it in her pocket.

"I do trust you." Regina said quietly. "But I still don't think we should discuss this… thing, in public. Like I said, it's a small town and sometimes even the walls can hear."

"Yeah, right now that wouldn't surprise me." Emma sighed. "I do think we should talk about it, though. Especially about that thing that happened when we… did the thing."

Emma stopped herself from saying the word "kissed" when she saw Regina's fiery eyes.

"Yes, I was a little worried about that too. I've been doing some research but I haven't found nothing of use. " Regina sighed. "We should definitely discuss this, but not here."

"Alright. Do you want to meet… Somewhere? My place?" Emma suggested.

"I remind you that _your_ place is also your parents place, so I'd rather not talk about this matter when they're around." Regina replied. "Meet me at the mansion at 6."

"Dinner date?" Emma's smug grin made Regina roll her eyes.

"Don't be late." She said, with the hint of a smirk. "Unlike you I have important things to do."

And with that Regina left, leaving Emma alone at Granny's porch. Ruby exited the diner and went to stand next to Emma, staring with her at the elegant woman as she walked down the street.

"By that smile I assume the conversation went well?" Ruby smirked when she noticed Emma's smug face.

"You could say so." the blonde Sheriff kept smiling to herself as she rejoiced silently.


End file.
